THE JOURNEY of Innovate, Invest, Inspire “ When Nature Finds Itself in Need of New Ideas, It Strives to Connect, Not Protect.”
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twenty THE JOURNEY OF innovaTE, iNVEsT, iNsPiRE “ When nature finds itself in need of new ideas, it strives to connect, not protect.” SteveN JohNSoN Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation GoiNG LOCAl, GLOBAllY the history of ecotrust is a story of innovation, adaptation, and evolution. from the coastal temperate rainforest of North America to the grassland savannah of North Australia, ecotrust’s evolution has taken us unexpectedly to places halfway around the globe. Now, in our 20th year, we’re reflecting on where we’ve been and what we’ve learned. in September 2011, we will convene leaders of innovative regional initiatives from around the world to share experiences in an effort to connect, not protect, ideas and stories that have emerged over the past two decades. to prepare for such a humbling undertaking, we take a 20-year look back, and a hopeful look forward, at our way of bushwhacking through the social, economic, and ecological landscape — a journey of innovation, investment, and inspiration in our own bioregional home. the world’s terrestrial bioregions A natural region, or bioregion, is a place defined by its biophysical and cultural features rather than political boundaries. every bioregion is faced with its own distinct challenges to economic, social, and environmental well- being. We believe that strategies for fostering resilience are also best pursued at the scale of bioregions, because communities ultimately depend on the health and well-being of the natural order in the place they call home. our JourNeY People tend to think of Ecotrust’s work as we could foster reliable prosperity through place-based, local, but our origins are global. in 1992, ecotrust nature-inspired innovation. founder Spencer B. Beebe was at the earth Summit in Slowly, a pattern of natural development emerged. rio for a historic gathering on sustainable development first, there was a period of several years of gathering with some 160 heads of state. At one event, he found information and then incubating new solutions, a time himself standing in a crowd next to Senator Al Gore. we think of as “innovation.” then came “investment,” he said, “Senator, do you think we will see sustainable when serious long-term capital was required to build new, development in the u.S.?” Gore said “No.” potentially self-sustaining businesses and institutions. By that time, Beebe had been living and working in latin finally, there was “inspiration,” a more explicit effort to America for 12 years on conservation initiatives, and all of tell the hopeful stories that emerge from the distinctive the things the leaders were talking about at the summit— competitive advantages of people and place. biodiversity conventions, saving rainforest, the growing disparity between rich and poor—were directed at other in short, this development model is a journey of countries, not the u.S. the Americans were preaching innovation, investment, and inspiration. But it’s not a abroad what they failed to practice at home. Beebe 1-2-3 linear process. rather, it’s an interactive set of started talking with u.S. Ambassador Jack hood vaughn, relationships and a long-term process of economic, pictured below, about creating a u.S.-based organization environmental, and cultural evolution. Most importantly, to help rectify that shortcoming. it’s the direct outcome of tangible, place-based work. Coincidentally, this same pattern of citizen enterprise the idea with ecotrust was to stick to one bioregion is happening all over the world, a social movement that for the long term instead of blowing into a place, “saving” Paul hawken calls “blessed unrest.” it’s time to connect some land, declaring success, and then charging over the the dots and explore whether this transformative idea horizon before something blew up. We wanted to explore can put down roots and grow a more reliable prosperity our own rainforest home more deeply and see whether on a global scale. Jack Hood Vaughn FOUNdiNg CHaiR OF EcoTRUsT. VaUgHN, a lONgTimE U.s. ambassadOR aNd PEaCE CORPs director, HElPEd CREaTE both CONservaTiON iNTERNaTiONal aNd EcoTRUsT. bioregion: North aUsTRalia ecotrust Australia is creating a new conservation economy framework for North Australia. bioregion: COasTal TEmPERaTE RaiNFOREsT Coastal temperate rainforests constitute a relatively rare forest type, originally covering 30 to 40 million hectares, less than one-fifth of one percent of the earth’s land surface. three features are common to all coastal temperate rainforests: proximity to oceans, the presence of mountains, and high rainfall. Patrick Dodson FOUNdiNg CHaiR OF EcotrusT aUsTRalia. FOR dECadEs, dOdsON Has bEEN ON THE forefront OF issUEs THaT sHaPE THE contemPORary abORigiNal aNd aUsTRaliaN ExPERiENCE. Ecotrust Has supported dOzENs OF iNsTiTUTiONal ExPERimENTs dEsigNEd to CREaTE mORE REsiliENT economiEs, ecosYsTEms, aNd commUNiTiEs. HERE aRE JUsT a FEw: Natural Capital fund, ecotrust forests, foodhub, Jean vollum Natural Capital Center, Kitlope heritage Conservancy, ShoreBank Pacific, enterprise Cascadia, the Willapa Alliance, Clayoquot Biosphere Project and Biosphere reserve, iisaak, North Pacific fisheries trust, Salmon Nation, e3 Network A Culture of iNNOVAtioN innovation is a deeply natural process that arises this sort of “adjacent possibility” works because the gradually from the bits and pieces of our collective human species is an interdependent part of the larger and connected experiences. New ideas tend to come community of life, and because our brains, with trillions less from individual genius than from those who take of electrical connections, function in a fundamentally remnants from the junkyard of existing ideas and see natural way. our ability to innovate fresh ideas at a time connections that others have overlooked. Bring two or when we desperately need them is very much linked more ideas, technologies, or initiatives close together to the way in which natural ecosystems function. the and you have what author Steven Johnson calls the fundamental process of economic development—the “adjacent possible.” out of the adjacent possible, new constantly adaptive differentiation of goods and services and unforeseen possibilities occur. in a complex, high-speed web of relationships—is closely related to the natural process of evolution and the We witnessed this process in the development of extraordinary diversity of life on earth. ShoreBank Pacific. A collection of conservationists sensitive to issues of social justice joined with Chicago hence, we believe that cultures of innovation rooted bankers sensitive to the economic needs of in place and inspired by nature have the best shot disenfranchised African-American communities and at reversing the downward spiral of environmental, created a bank to address social, economic, and social, and economic deterioration worldwide. Bold environmental concerns. over the course of almost experimentation is the primary path towards a more two decades, we created the world’s first environmental resilient and reliable prosperity. bank that served residents in western oregon and Washington. then we were lucky enough to find tom Steyer and Kat taylor, who started a bank built roughly on the ShoreBank model to serve the needs of largely urban residents in oakland, California. in 2011, they merged their oneCalifornia Bank with ShoreBank Pacific to create one PacificCoast Bank, the world’s first truly bioregional bank. PHOTOs top to bottom: the Jean vollum Natural Capital Center; haisla ceremonial crossing, Kitlope, B.C.; Chinook salmon in the Columbia River 5 “We must design a system wHERE THE OPPOsiTE is TRUE, wHERE THE NaTURal, everydaY aCTs OF wORk aNd liFE accumUlaTE into a bETTER wORld as a maTTER OF coursE, not as a maTTER OF consCiOUs alTRUism.” Paul hawken, aUTHOR & NaTURal CaPiTalisT A Culture of iNveStMeNt We didn’t name ecotrust’s $18 million working endowment the Natural Capital fund by accident. the name reflects our fundamental belief that there’s a natural model of development and investment all around us— FiNaNCial REsiliENCE in our streams and in our forests. • Growth in ecotrust’s Natural Nature uses diverse strategies to spread risk. if you look at the reproductive Capital fund since 1992: 20x strategies for Chinook and Coho salmon, for example, you’ll see very • Total value of the fund: more different behavior. Chinook life histories are diverse—they spread the risk— than $18 million and populations are relatively stable. By contrast, oregon coastal Coho are constantly exploring new habitat, spawn all at once early in the winter, and • Consecutive years Charity risk getting blown out by a big flood; they have less diverse life histories and Navigator has awarded ecotrust their populations tend to be boom and bust. favoring the Chinook strategy, the top four-star rating: 8 we designed our fund to build ecotrust’s ability to ride out the thick and • Percentage of nonprofits that thin of changing economic conditions and waves of philanthropic interest achieve this distinction: 1 while investing in the future. or again, like a forest, we save and spend. We store energy in our roots and seeds while also investing in growth in initiatives like the Natural Capital Center and ShoreBank Pacific. Most importantly, our fund helps us put our money where our mouth is. We invest in initiatives that promise social, economic, and environmental returns. Most of the endowments of the universities that teach our children and foundations that support “sustainability” are invested in the self- defeating practices of Wall Street: they distribute five percent annually to try to fix the problems that the principal created. As most of us know from experience, it’s more expensive to fix something than to take care of it in the first place. ecotrust’s Natural Capital fund is focused on cause, not effect. PHOTOs top to bottom: Solar panels on ecotrust’s ecoroof; Ahousaht Nation canoe, Clayoquot Sound, B.C.; Gardner Canal, B.C. 7 “The best story wins.” ric Young, EcoTRUsT CaNada bOaRd mEmbER A Culture of iNSPirAtioN ecotrust’s culture is, by design, one of listening more than talking.